Resurfaced Memories
by PeggsterLover
Summary: A run in with a gun-wielding patient leaves Morris shaken, causing painful memories from his hostage situation to resurface. Morris/Sam friendship


_Ok you'll have to excuse me if this isn't great, as it's my first ER fanfiction. I'm new to the whole ER fandom & haven't seen that many episodes so bare with me :) _

_First off, I'm not 100% sure how the staff would react in a situation like this so apologies if I'm off with that. Secondly, I know Frank is just Frank, but I (for some bizarre reason) can imagine Morris saying something like this to him in this way. Hope that's ok. _

_Disclaimer: Don't own them, never will :( _

_Summary: A run in with a gun-wielding patient leaves Morris shaken, causing painful memories from his hostage situation to resurface. _

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"Hey Frank!" Morris approached the desk. "You seen my pen?"

"Your pen?" Frank looked up with confusion.

"Yeah, that black one with the gold writing on?"

"No I haven't."

Morris watched as Frank looked back down to the computer in front of him. "No no no no no…" He began to search some of the drawers behind the counter. "Damnit!"

Frank tried to ignore his desperate attempts to find the pen but after just thirty seconds, he had had enough. "Morris…" he turned to the redhead. "Will you give it a rest? It's just a freaking pen, for crying out loud."

Morris froze. "It is not just 'a freaking pen', Francis." He began to walk across to him, knowing that the name would irritate the older man. "That pen was a graduation gift from…"

"Morris." Archie was cut off by Brenner.

"Yeah?"

"Uh, I hate to interrupt this lovers' spat but there's a patient in three who needs a head injury looking at, do you think you could find time on your…" he took in a deep breath while studying Morris "oh so busy schedule to take a look at him?"

Morris looked from Brenner to Frank and then back to the Australian. "Sure." He gave an exasperated sigh before heading over to see the patient. As he did, he thought out loud, loud enough for Frank to hear. "I guess I'll have to use one of the second rate pens."

He walked in and closed the curtain behind him. "Hi there Mr Grant, I'm Doctor Morris." He looked up at the man. He must have been just a bit older than Archie himself with shoulder length brown hair and a decent sized beard adorning his chin. On his forehead, running from his hairline on the right side across to the inside point of his left eyebrow was a nasty looking gash. "So, looks like you've taken quite a knock there, Mr Grant. How did this happen?" he began preparing to examine the wound.

"Got in a fight."

"Must have been a pretty bad one to leave you like that." Morris gave a small smirk as he continued, turning his back to the patient and therefore not seeing him slowly reach his hand into his pocket. "So let's get this checked out." Morris turned around but as he did, a hand grabbed the collar of his shirt and he was pulled forward. He was about to say something when Grant lifted a gun to his lips in a shushing motion. Morris was quickly silenced. At sight of the weapon, images ran through the doctor's mind. Images of Daniel. Images of Rebecca laying there. Images of himself massaging her heart in an attempt to keep her alive while Daniel had a gun on him. A mixture of fear and adrenaline rushed back with those memories but he fought to stay calm.

"Don't try to alarm anyone. Or this," he motioned to the gun "will put a bullet right in here." He lifted the gun and placed a barrel against Morris' temple. "Understood?" Morris nodded. "Good. Now…" he began to move the gun so it caressed the side of Morris' face. "I want you to give me drugs."

"Drugs?" Morris spoke so quietly that it was barely audible.

"Yes. My supplier… well let's just say he didn't deliver."

"And that's what happened? You got into a fight with him, got that gash and then, what? Killed him?"

Grant shrugged. "Pretty much. What better place to find goods than a hospital? Huh?" he gave Morris an evil grin before returning to a serious and threatening expression. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, never letting the guns trail leave its target, however this time he brought it down underneath Morris' chin. The movement of the gun taunted Archie as he struggled to not give in to the terror of both what was happening at that moment and the memories that threatened to bring him to the breaking point. "Ok, so here's what gonna happen. I'm gonna stay here, you're gonna go get me drugs – doesn't really matter what, just anything. You're the doctor, you should know. Now make sure you don't tell anyone what…"

Then, the worst possible thing happened. The curtain flew open.

"Morris, I need you to…" Sam froze when she saw what was happening. Morris standing with Grant holding the gun underneath his chin. Both men looked at her and before either of the ER staff could comprehend what was going on, Grant jumped to his feet and pulled Morris in front of him, wrapping one arm around his neck and using the other to push the gun into the doctor's cheek. Sam didn't know what to do. She glanced at her friend who had a look of pure terror on his face as he grabbed at the arm tightening around his throat. She was about to speak up to reassure both her friend and the man holding him hostage that they could work this out, but before she could utter a word, the gun was pointed at her.

"Shut up, bitch." Sam quickly stopped herself. "Good girl. Now get back." He began to walk Morris forward, forcing Sam to back up into full view of the emergency room. When people saw the scene, they either froze, screamed or ran. Grant lifted the gun and fired a single shot into the air, causing everyone to freeze and leaving a hole in the roof. "Everyone shut up!" the crowd did as they were told, their eyes flicking between Grant and a terrified Morris. "Now I want everyone to listen to me and your friend here won't get a bullet in his brain." Once he was sure everyone was listening, he continued. "I was you to get me drugs, ok? Anything and everything. Whatever you got, I'm gonna take it." Everyone still stood, frozen to their spots. "What are you waiting for? Go!"

Some people stayed put while others began scrambling around to find things. Meanwhile, Sam couldn't take her eyes off Archie. She watched as her friend evidently fought to stay together while trying to ignore the gun that was still pressing into his cheek. She couldn't imagine what he was going through. It was bad enough the poor guy had been held hostage before, but a second time… After the incident with the thieves, they had all hoped none of them would have to go through something like that again. Particularly Morris and Neela. Yet here they were, watching as a drug addict held a gun to Archie's head. Sam turned her attention onto the ER staff, who were still either mesmerised by the scene in front of them or frantically scrambling around.

Suddenly, Sam saw movement behind Grant. It was Frank. She wasn't sure what he was doing but she tried not to draw Grant's attention to him, in case it was the only chance they had of saving Morris.

"Where are my freaking drugs?" Grant yelled. He was getting more and more frustrated by the minute and thus both tightening his grip on Morris' throat and forcing the gun harder into his temple. He whispered into Morris' ear so that only the doctor could hear him. "When I get them, you're coming with me. Once I'm safe, I'll leave you in a nice place for your friends to find you." Morris trembled at the words, fearing that when he was left there, he wouldn't necessarily be alive.

Before they knew what had hit them, Morris and Grant felt themselves hurtling through the air as Frank pushed into the back of them. Grant's grip on Morris loosened as they moved and Archie found himself tumbling forwards. He fell to the ground, his forehead connecting painfully with the desk on the way.

"Sam! Grab it!" Frank motioned for Sam to retrieve the gun, which had slid from Grant's grasp as he collided with the emergency room floor. Sam did as she was told and before she knew it, Gates was by her side, grabbing the weapon and securing it. He then joined Frank as he fought to keep Grant restrained.

"Security!" Gates yelled, as Sam rushed to Morris' side. He lay amongst papers and other items that had been knocked as he fell.

"Morris? Can you hear me?" Sam rolled him over and saw that he was semi-conscious, but had a small gash at his hairline from it's meeting with the desk. "Are you ok?" he blinked a few times and looked up at her.

"Sam?"

"I'm here Morris." Sam smiled. She then watched as he turned and looked at his hand, which was grasped around something.

"Hey Frank." He looked across the room.

"Yeah?" Frank glanced back as security managed to control Grant.

"I found my pen." He smirked weakly and showed Frank the black and gold pen in his hand.

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Sam carried the two coffees back to the break room where she had left Morris. She had checked over him and other than the injury on his forehead he was physically ok. Emotionally, however, she wasn't too sure. She knew that the ordeal they had just experienced had to have been difficult for her friend as it would have brought up some painful memories. She pushed open the door.

"Morris?" she looked around but he wasn't there. Walking back out, she called to Abby. "Hey, you seen Morris?"

"Uh, I think he headed outside for some fresh air." Sam turned towards the door of the ER and began towards them.

The cool breeze hit her face and blew her hair back as the doors opened. She looked across the yard, it was strangely quiet in contrast to the usual sound of sirens as ambulances pour in from the street. She saw him sitting on the steps in the small gap across from her. Taking in a deep breath of the crisp air, she made her way across to him.

"Hey." She spoke softly, making sure she didn't alarm him. He looked up at her and gave a small smile as she handed him the coffee. Studying his face, her gaze moved from the small white bandage that was now placed on his forehead to his slowly disappearing smile and then back up to his eyes. In them, she saw something that she very rarely saw. To her, Morris was always this brave, smart-alec joker whose pastime was saving peoples lives and who always cared for others. However, at that moment, she saw a different side to him – his eyes showed vulnerability. It made her heart sink seeing him like that. Sitting down next to him she wanted to reassure him that everything would be ok.

"Morris…" she began.

"I kept seeing her face…" Sam knew who he meant. He was referring to Rebecca. He had tried his damn hardest to save that girls life, but despite his and Neela's efforts, she had lost the fight.

"Morris you tried… so hard to save her." Sam looked at him however his gaze remained straight ahead of him. "Daniel knew that." At the mention of Daniel's name, Morris felt a chill travel down his spine.

"I know…" he took in a breath to prevent tears from falling. "But she still died. And so did he." Morris turned to face her. "You know, when Grant had that gun on me, the thoughts that were rushing through my mind weren't that I was going to die. All I could think about was that moment. The moment when Daniel had handed the gun over to me and I thought the whole situation was over. But it wasn't. All I could see was the sadness and pain in his face a split second before a bullet lodged in his brain." Tears were beginning to slowly roll down his cheeks, leaving a small trail of warmth where they fell.

"Archie…" Sam shifted in her spot on the step. "You are an amazing doctor, but you have to accept that you can't save everyone."

"I know that, Sam. I know for sure that I couldn't save Rebecca…" he looked down to the coffee cup in his hands. "But I could have saved Daniel."

Sam put her arm around her friend and stayed with him as the tears began to flow freely. As she sat there she thanked God that Morris, and the rest of the ER, was safe.

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_Ok, I hope that was ok. Like I said, I may have a few things off in this, as its my first ER fanfic, but I hope you liked it nonetheless. _

_Please drop me a review to let me know :)_

_Much love _

_x_


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